1834 Capped Bust Quarter. B-4. Rarity-1. MS-67 (NGC). Remarkable target toning in rich cobalt blue, lavender-rose and orange-apricot dominates this coins appearance and provides phenomenal eye appeal even at the Superb Gem grade level. Closer scrutiny reveals full, vibrant satin luster and a sharp to full strike with no apparent abrasions. Lightly reflective in the fields and delivering a subtle prooflike contrast. Beginning in 1831, after the adoption of several critical improvements in its coinage process, the Mint struck its first quarter dollars of smaller diameter with a raised border. These improvements required a modification of the basic Capped Bust design (by Engraver William Kneass) that included a refined obverse portrait and the removal of the scroll and associated Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM from the reverse. This reduced diameter Capped Bust type would remain in production through 1838, when it was supplanted by Christian Gobrechts Liberty Seated design. Although more readily obtainable than its large diameter predecessors of 1815 to 1828, the reduced diameter Capped Bust quarter is scarce in Mint State as a type, and rare in Gem Uncirculated, as here. With strong eye appeal and superior technical quality, this delightful 1834 represents an important find. Considered as a date, probably only 300 to 400 Mint State examples still survive, and these are sprinkled among the five known die varieties of the year. The B-4 variety includes several Gem-quality examples, led by two at the Superb Gem level, which are also the finest known for the overall date. The present MS-67 (NGC) example is one half of this elite duo and is tied at the top of the NGC Census with just one other coin. However, that other coin has not emerged since Superiors sale of August 1990 where it sold for $100,000 in lot 1078. This example ranks finer than the Pogue (MS-66 PCGS) and Koshkarian-Gardner (MS-66 NGC) specimens, which signifies its immense importance in the realm of early quarters. Heritages sale of April 2012, lot 5086; Heritages sale of April 2014, lot 5578; our sale of August 2014, lot 13078; Heritages sale of January 2016, lot 5331.
